3.31.2008

If you can't beat 'em, you may as well just join 'em I guess! Here is our new springtime guest that will probably be parked in front of our house until June...ha..ha..ha! Zoey's pretty thrilled to have "snow bear" around though, and I must say that helping to make him actually put me in better sprits too.

3.25.2008

Zoey had a party to go to over Spring Break and it was so fun. It was just a total of four little girls and it consisted of an afternoon of painting fingernails, coloring princess pages, making beaded bracelets, having a little luncheon (buffet style - fit for any princess!) and this amazing cake! Isn't it the coolest? It tasted more amazing than it looks too! The father of Zoey's little friend is a chef and he prepared the birthday meal and the cake, so it was a treat not only for the little girls but for the mama's as well! After cake the little princesses played a very unlikely game of chase and monster...which consisted of the birthday girl roaring and chasing the others (who were formally known as sweet little princesses) under the kitchen table and into bedrooms, shrieking and screaming all the way of course! Balloons popping, safety gates falling (due to the weight of three little girls leaning over it, trying to get away from the birthday monster), it was all good and the way that any good party should come to an end. Especially princess ones!

Directions:Cut cardstock to measure 7 3/4 inches x 5 inches, fold and crease to make card. Cut a corner of Narratives paper (measurement from corner to end of pp is 3 1/2 inches). Adhere cut out corner to the top of your card. Using a paper piercer, pierce a hole through the hole in the point of the scalloped paper and insert your Eclecti-Ka decorative brad. Cut a pink strip from your Narrative patterned paper (measured 5 inches long) and adhere to card (placement of strip on card is one inch from bottom of card). Choose a ribbon border from your swatchbook (#14628) and rub it on the top edge of your strip of patterned paper. Choose a word from your other swatch book (#16598) and rub it on your card above your paper strip on the right hand side. Adhere letter stickers to the bottom of your card, slightly overlapping the bottom edge of your paper strip.

3.20.2008

Something that has been so awesome about this hobby is the getting to know individuals and the ability to form friendships that otherwise would have been impossible. I stumbled upon Nat (who lives in Hamburg, Germany) and her blog last year through participating in Emily Falconbridge's mini journey journal challenges and have since kept in touch through keeping tabs on her work via her blog. When approached by her to do a photo swap with her I absolutely agreed! She did a layout with a picture of Zoey that I supplied for her which is insanely gorgeous, you can view it here. And this is the one I did with a photo of her that she supplied to me. This was my first photo swap and it was so fun! Thanks Nat!

3.19.2008

and some of my first "official" Creative Imaginations projects! I have been having so much fun creating with all of CI's product lines, (only wish my horrid head cold would ease up a bit so that I would feel up to playing a bit more!).

To check out some super fun (and extremely informative) project tutorials, check out the following link: Creative Imaginations Project Demos. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did!

3.15.2008

Since there is absolutely no hope here for spring (we have easily 6 feet of snow surrounding our house, shoveled piles...but still!) I've been trying to sneak in little bits here and there of springy type of things for us to enjoy until the weather decides to cooperate! Did some blog updating with my banner (picture was taken last spring and were tulip bulbs given to me by my MIL that actually bloomed and then were picked just as fast by Zoey all in one morning in a burst of excitement over their beauty!), I've been putting out our little Easter decorations, spreading them out throughout the house (thinking that maybe if we see enough Easter eggs and bunny rabbits, we will actually be fooled into thinking that it is in fact that time of year again) and finally I made a little springtime hat for Zoey to play with...thinking that I'll be making some more though soon for her dollies to play and have fun with too, per her request of course! Hope you all are enjoying the first hintings of spring and the warmer weather that it brings!

3.13.2008

and that meant a visit to library story hour where Grannie Annie (Ethan's mom) got to meet library Jane and the youth librarian, Mary as well as share in the stories, silly songs, finger-plays, dances and "stretches" that go along with our weekly story hour visits.

it meant the joy of discovering that Grannie Annie and Zoey start the alphabet and end the alphabet (A-Z)!

A visit with Grannie meant painting fingernails and sharing in other "girly" adventures...

including of course, dress-up with Zoey's favorite dollies, Lucy and Curly (complete with matching dresses for doll and girl!).

It also meant that Mama Jenny got lots and lots of awesome pictures that I am just itching to scrapbook! It's been a good week!

3.06.2008

So it seems that my Dad was right. Starting a very, very long time ago he told me to write down my goals, my dreams, what it was that I wanted to accomplish, to call my own. I always just laughed, thinking, all right Dad...sure. Well, two years ago now, I was at a point in my life when something needed changing. Outside forces as well as internal ones were at my back and I needed to move and it needed to be forward. I needed to find "me" again. I started this blog. It was more of a creative experiment at first and then it became a great source of growth and of comfort, to some extent. I started sharing some of my scrapbooking layouts, project ideas, musings about what this craft meant to me and then became involved in Emily's challenges which in turn, I think really opened my eyes to other artists and other women that were like me, that had so much to share and had found a way to do so via scrapbooking/art journaling through this awesome medium called the internet. It was incredible to have found so many kindred spirits through that year of challenges with Emily and it really boosted my self confidence and really made me come to the realization that this is something that I wanted to pursue. Scrapbooking, altered art, journaling, paper-crafting, etc. It's funny how those early days of being a stay at home mom really made me feel lost and lonely. While being totally in love with my new baby girl, I was at the same time losing my sense of self, the woman that I thought I was. When I started scrapbooking, some of those early pages served as reminders to me of what was important in my life. What was right, what was working, what I wanted to celebrate, what I wanted to remember and what I wanted to strive for. It's amazing how when you concentrate on the positive and what it is that you want your life to look like, how it actually becomes to resemble that of which you seek. One day (after many, many, many days of thinking about it and agonizing about it - I over think absolutely everything!) I wrote down that I wanted my scrapbooking to be published one day. And then it was. I then wrote down that I wanted to be a designer for a scrapbooking kit club and I have been given the amazing opportunity to work with some incredible women at Kits & Pieces. And when I say incredible, it doesn't even come close to how I feel about Linda, the owner and Rosy the DT manager and kit designer. These ladies I can truly call friends and I am so very blessed to have them in my life. There are some individuals that come across our path in this life that open doors, of acceptance, understanding, compassion and these two are definitely two of those individuals. They couldn't have come into my life at any better time than when they did. I also wrote down that I wanted to one day work for one of the industry's most succesful scrapbooking manufacturer's, specifically acting on their team of designers. And I now have been invited to do so. A while back there was a question posed on a scrapbooking website chat board that asked "What manufacturers' would you most want to work for in the industry?" and my number one answer was Creative Imaginations. And now it would seem that I have been invited to join the Creative Imaginations team of designers! The official announcment won't be for another couple of weeks, but I've been given the okay to share a bit early! There was a point when clicking that "post" button on blogger was so intimidating to me. What would the people that "know me" think of my passion of all things "paper & glue?" And while worrying about what other people thought of me, I stopped and realized that I really didn't care, as this "paper & glue" stuff was something that I was good at, something that was important to me and for the first time I knew the answer to the question that it seems that I had been asking myself for so long. That question being, "What is it exactly that you are going to grow up and be Jen?" Well, it would seem that I am a papercrafter, scrapbooker, journaler, a photographer (who is very much still learning the art!) whatever you want to call it, this is it. And the funny thing is, I probably knew this all along. I just didn't give it value myself, until now. I love drawing, doodling, sketching, painting, making things, altered art, reading about art history, learning new techniques, when I was little I remember standing in the paper isle of the local pharmacy and agonizing over what papers and pencils I wanted to get (a special treat that my parents would offer - isn't it telling that it was paper and pencils that I wanted?), I would literally stand there and pick each sheet of paper up and feel it, put it back and do the same with the next and so on and so on. I collected pencils like they were buttons (and now I do the same with buttons!). It's probably pretty obvious to those that know me that I should have been involved in something relating to the arts, my father after all is an artist by trade and my mother is an avid knitter, seamstress and when I was young a weaver. For some reason I think that I thought I needed to prove myself in a totally new way, branch out and be something different, turns out that I didn't...or maybe I needed to try so that I could come back to what was me all along. Whatever it is, I'm here now and so very thankful for the opportunities that have been placed before me. I look forward to the challenges that I am sure to come and am blessed to be able to do something that I love so much from my home, with Zoey here right alongside of me. I am thankful that Ethan is so supportive and that he sees how important all of this is to me and that he is willing to make little sacrifices along the way for me so that this can happen as well. I always have been the one that has put Zoey down to sleep and the other night I had my first conference call with CI and it was right when I would normally be reading to Zoey and Ethan did it no problem, (of course he would!) and he actually fell asleep with her! It's funny how something so very small can make me feel so supported and loved. Anyways, I am thrilled to be where I am at right now. A little bit nervous. And I just had to share a secret with you all that worked for me...you should write down what it is that you want. Even those crazy, lofty far-fetched ideas. You just might find yourself pleasantly surprised. Thanks Dad.

3.05.2008

This one is of my dad at different stages in his life. Really loved these photos and this kit was perfect I thought for a layout featuring a somewhat masculine yet classical theme.

This layout is of my step-dad and my daughter using the air popper (Zoey's first time!). Kind of cool to have these pictures of her and him together. To say that my step-dad and I got off to a rocky start, would be putting it mildly! I had a hard time getting used to the idea of my mom being with someone other than my dad for quite some time, and so it's pretty neat to see that Zoey now has a relationship with him and that now I too have one with him now as well.

Made with scraps from my March, Spring Bouquet kit. Thought it would be a perfect little album for Zoey to take in her backpack when visiting grandparents, friends or going to pre-k type of things!

Also, be sure to stop on over and check out our 8 Week's of Challenges Contest: Survivor Style! To check out the details of this awesome contest (where you could win a FREE 3 month subscription to Kits & Pieces) click here! You have until Monday, March 10th to sign up!

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This is a personal blog written by me.

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